Tag: politics

A political rival to President Moon has survived an attempt to send him to jail:

A Suwon court cleared Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung of all charges of abuse of power and violating election laws on Thursday. 

The Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court found Lee not guilty on the four charges brought against him. Three were related to spreading false information during election campaigns and one was on abusing of his political power to commit his brother to a mental institution.

Lee, who previously served as mayor of Seongnam and was elected Gyeonggi governor in June last year, was indicted in December. 

Prosecutors accused Lee of using his influence as Seongnam mayor to forcibly institutionalize his now-deceased older brother, Lee Jae-sun, seen to be a political liability, at a mental hospital in the Gyeonggi city in 2012. 

Gov. Lee has also been accused of violating the national election law by making false claims leading up to the local elections last June. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but ROK Heads may remember his wife was also accused of spreading libel against political rivals on Twitter. She was also cleared of defamation charges.

Though Governor Lee had the charges dropped the negative publicity may meet the intent of politically damaging him as a rival to President Moon.

So does anyone think this bill is intended root out corruption or people that don’t agree with the politics of the Moon administration?:

he ruling Democratic Party (DP) decided Monday to fast-track two bills on establishing a special investigative unit tasked with probing allegations of corruption by high-ranking officials.
Earlier in the day, the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (BP) proposed a separate bill on limiting the authority of the probe unit and fast-tracking both its bill and a relevant measure proposed by it and three other parties last week.
The National Assembly faces heightened tensions as the DP and three minor parties agreed last week to fast-track four bills linked to electoral reform and the establishment of a unit to investigate alleged corruption by high-ranking government and public officials. (………)

The BP bill calls for setting up a panel to review the appropriateness of charges filed by the probe unit, a tool aimed at preventing it from wielding excessive authority for indictment. Under the four parties’ deal, the unit will be able to indict only judges, prosecutors and high-ranking police officers, an institutional tool that can keep prosecutors in check.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is the largest conservative protest I can remember in quite some time if the 50,000 number is accurate:

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) took to the streets Saturday to launch an all-out protest against a joint move by ruling and other rival political parties to fast-track key bills, including an electoral reform.
LKP legislators and party members, wearing red T-shirts with the message, “We will fight till the end” written on them, gathered in central Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square for the demonstration.
The LKP put the estimate of attendees at Saturday’s rally at 50,000. 
LKP leader Hwang Kyo-ahn took the podium and made a resounding speech lashing out at the liberal Moon Jae-in government and the ruling Democratic Party (DP) as those who “try to use the fast-track to their own advantage” so as to gain an upper hand in next year’s parliamentary elections. 
“We’re waging a fair struggle so as to derail this barbaric fast-track action,” he said.
LKP floor leader Na Kyung-won also had her turn at the podium, condemning the move as “an act by the leftists that gravely undermines parliamentary democracy and the Constitution.”

“The leftists are trying to wipe out this country’s free democracy. They have humiliated the National Assembly that represents our people,” she shouted. “The electoral (reform) bill is a tool they need to extend their terms in power for as long as they want.”
Four parties, not including the LKP, agreed Monday to a package deal to fast-track bills on electoral reform, the establishment of a special unit to investigate alleged corruption by high-ranking public officials and enhancement of the police’s authority to conduct probes.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if the 50,000 number is true the conservative protests are getting larger, but I believe that only if they get over 100,000 does it mean that the general South Korean public is turning on the Moon administration.

Just another example that South Korea does not have freedom of speech, especially when the ruling party is looking for anything to deflect attention from their various scandals:

 The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and three rival parties said Monday they will seek to punish three lawmakers of the main opposition party over their controversial comments allegedly disparaging a 1980 pro-democracy uprising.
The four parties said they will file a petition against three Liberty Korea Party (LKP) lawmakers with the parliamentary special committee on ethics on Tuesday over their conduct with the goal of stripping them of their parliamentary seats.
Representatives Kim Jin-tae, Lee Jong-myeong and Kim Soon-rye have come under fire for holding a public hearing last week, inviting a far-right figure who has claimed that North Korean troops were involved in the pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju in 1980.
Two of them also made controversial remarks allegedly disparaging the democracy movement, with one claiming that a riot was turned into a pro-democracy uprising by people with political purposes.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

According to the Blue House there is nothing to see here, move along:

President Moon Jae-in’s secretary for civil affairs said Monday that the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae has not surveilled civilians for political purposes, shrugging off a former investigator’s spying claim.
Controversy has flared up after Kim Tae-woo, a former special investigator at the presidential office, made the revelation that he had collected information, including info about civilians and former bureaucrats who should not be subject to Cheong Wa Dae surveillance.
Surveillance of civilians has been a sensitive issue in South Korea as former conservative governments were blamed for illegally spying on citizens for political purposes.
Cho Kuk, Moon’s top secretary for civil affairs, and Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok flatly rejected Kim’s claim at a meeting of the parliamentary steering committee that oversees Cheong Wa Dae. Kim was under Cho’s supervision.
It marked the first time since 2006 that a presidential secretary for civil affairs spoke at the parliamentary panel.
The revelation came after Kim was forced to return to his original post at the prosecution last month over an allegation that he sought to influence a police probe into a corruption case involving his acquaintance.
“The bottom line is that as Kim has become almost certain to face disciplinary actions due to his irregularities, he crafted a rare hoax by distorting the due work process into a political issue and trying to cover up his misconduct,” Cho told lawmakers.
The presidential civil affairs team under the Moon government has not surveilled civilians or drawn up blacklists (of people critical of the government) unlike other previous administrations),” he stressed.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the Moon administration’s attempt to take out another political rival using South Korea libel laws:

Prosecutors summoned the wife of Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung for questioning on Tuesday over allegations that she defamed her husband’s political rivals online.

Kim Hye-kyung, who police identified as the owner of the Twitter handle @08_hkkim, told reporters she was tired and frustrated at being wrongly accused as she entered the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi.

“I only hope the truth is revealed,” she said, echoing the words of her husband who underwent his own 13-hour interrogation last week over a number of different criminal accusations.

A police investigation into Kim’s case revealed last month that the @08_hkkim Twitter account posted thousands of political messages supporting Lee and defaming his political rivals. Some of the political figures publicly defamed were Rep. Jeon Hae-cheol of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and President Moon Jae-in.

Prosecutors say that Kim may be charged with spreading false information about Jeon in the run up to the Gyeonggi gubernatorial election in June and smearing the reputation of Moon’s son, Moon Joon-yong, with allegations that he obtained a public sector job through his father’s influence.

Both Kim and the governor deny the accusations, claiming that she never operated the Twitter account.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but with a Twitter handle with her named attached to it she obviously wasn’t trying to hide her identity if it was her.  On the other hand it could have been someone else who set up the Twitter handle to set her up.  After all the misinformation we saw over the “discovery” of the PC tablet that brought down President Park, anything is possible.

By the way I do like how the prosecutors are going after Governor Lee Jae-myung, a political rival to President Moon Jae-in than they were after fellow Governor Kim Kyoung-soo for his part in the far worse Druking Scandal.  I have always said South Korea is not a rule of law country, but instead a rule by law country which means it helps to be the President’s close friend in regards to Governor Kim.

It is interesting that the authorities are going after the wife of a political rival for allegedly spreading rumors online, but a coordinated online opinion rigging scandal for the President of Korea they quietly let go away:

The police have determined that a disputed Twitter account that spread false election rumors belongs to the wife of Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung.

The cyber unit at Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said Saturday that it will ask prosecutors early next week to indict Kim Hye-gyeong on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

A police official said details will not be disclosed to the media as Kim denies the charges and a legal battle is expected.

False information was posted on the Twitter account in question in April during the ruling Democratic Party’s primary race for the Gyeonggi governorship. The claim was damaging to her husband’s rival candidate.

The account also falsely claimed in late 2016 that then presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in’s son received employment favors.

The police analyzed some 40-thousand Tweets to identify the account’s owner and concluded that it belongs to the governor’s wife.  [KBS World Radio]

The Moon admin's political suppression in the name of "jeokpae cheongsan" (elimination of deep rooted evil) continues. Its target #1 is Park Seung-chun, former Minister of Veterans & Patriots. He was found not guilty on 5 charges. So now they set up comttee to investigate again. https://t.co/VmhGwfmBux

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) October 17, 2018

Trading away our national security & that of our allies for a short-term political advantage. Which it is, because Pyongyang isn't disarming. https://t.co/YYEj7uqPwL

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) October 7, 2018

The Moon administration is trying to get South Korean conservatives to attend the Inter-Korean Summit later this month in Pyongyang:

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Monday asked the parliamentary speaker and heads of all five political parties in South Korea to accompany President Moon Jae-in on his upcoming trip to the North.

The invitation came from Moon’s chief of staff Im Jong-seok, who currently heads a summit preparation committee.

The Moon-Kim summit is set to be held in Pyongyang from Sept. 18-20.

“The preparation committee for the 2018 Pyongyang summit seeks to invite National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang and vice speakers … as special parliamentary delegates,” Im told a press briefing.

The heads of all five major political parties, including Lee Hae-chan of the ruling Democratic Party and Kim Byong-jun of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), have also been invited.

Those invited also include Rep. Kang Seok-ho of the main opposition party, who currently serves as the chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and unification.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the South Korean conservatives have declined the invitation calling it a political stunt:

The LKP criticized the government’s proposal as a “political tactic.” The party’s interim chief Kim Byung-joon refused to accept the invitation. The National Assembly speaker’s office said the speaker would also not be part of the delegation.

Only the minor liberal party for Democracy and Peace and the most-progressive Justice Party accepted the invitation, alongside the DPK.  [Korea Times]